


Light On the Horizon

by KitPup



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kissing, Literal Sleeping Together, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sleepy Cuddles, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-05-19 09:36:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19354330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitPup/pseuds/KitPup
Summary: A cold crusade across the wasteland begins with one woman's entry into Diamond City.





	1. Wheel in the sky

**Author's Note:**

> I have no plans for this, but I won't be leaving it unfinished no matter what happens.

There was an easy air about her, a relaxation in the shoulders and a swing in the arms that was usually only found in the supremely confident, or the supremely drunk. For those with an eye to see it, it was clear she was comfortable in her skin. That she knew her body well and was confident in every step she took landing right where it was meant to. Her walk was sinuous and silent, cat-like one might say.

Just like a cat, as well, she went from this easy rolling walk to a tense crouch in an instant. Her eyes snapped sharp on a figure in the distance. She slipped forward slightly, balancing on the balls of her feet as she pulled her rifle around to get sights on the green brute. 

PFAH

The shot wasn’t silent, but it was much quieter than it would’ve been without the ungainly suppressor on the end of the barrel. She pulled back from the scope and scanned the road ahead before sighting another figure, just the one. One more shot and it crumpled to the ground feet in front of its companion, never even realizing there was danger.

Good. The best fights were the ones only you knew were happening. 

Another glance around for movement beyond the vegetation, such as it was, bending in the wind. Satisfied that it was just a simple patrol of two, she stood, and the relaxed air returned. If she weren’t reloading her rifle, no one would suspect there had been any kind of altercation. That was how she liked it. 

She resumed her walk, the road stretching before her with a couple of new speed bumps in the asphalt. The sun continued its trek across the sky, shallower now than it would be in a few months, the autumn air chill but not freezing, not yet. It was a good time to be on the move. The simple activity of walking kept her warm without causing sweat. The perfect fall day for a stroll.

The thought flashed briefly through her mind before resting in the back of her throat as a bitter, dry chuckle. The blasted landscape that passed her by as she floated through the world might as well have been a foreign land, an alien planet, not the countryside she’d grown up in. The crunching under her boots, not bright leaves but dusty bones. The decorations hung on windows and walls a faded mockery of what had come before.

But that wasn’t important. That didn’t matter. Nothing out here mattered. Her goal, far down the road, too far to see but for the twinkle of the light glinting off of the remains of sky-scrapers. That was all that mattered. That was her one hope. The rest of the world could be ashes for all she knew and it wouldn’t have mattered a bit so long as there was still a trail to follow.

The sun passed overhead, never getting too close, hugging the southern horizon like a comfortable pillow. The shadows grew shorter, then longer again. They dialed around her as she strode southwards, then faded as the sun finally gave up pretending to be awake and slipped past the edge of the world. Her steps never faltered.

The moon, waning quarter and casting a filtered light through the low cloud cover, became her new travel companion. The world almost silent as she passed. 

Now the glow south was truly visible, brilliant white light from the stadium. The bones of the buildings around it standing like bars to a cage. She continued, pulled like a moth from the darkness.

Across the river, that still flowed at least, the tides hadn’t risen up and reversed the course. The sun still rose in the east, the river flowed to the ocean, the wind still sighed over the mountains. Not everything had changed, just everything that mattered. 

A pause, gunshots. Not a new sound, not even before, but close and with curses and guttural yells. A quick step up a collapsed ceiling, rifle swung around to the fore and eyes quickly finding the source of the racket disturbing her night. 

Guards, in a motley assortment of baseball gear, with an even sorrier assortment of weapons, fighting more of those green brutes. They looked about equally numbered and equally armed and considering how many shots it was taking them to knock down just one of the giants that meant they were utterly out-matched.

PFAH

PFAH

PFAH

PFAH

Now the odds were in their favor. Back down the rubble ramp, across a street, around the block, slowly circling the source of that bright light. Then, the door. A woman stood outside it, looking ready to strangle the intercom as she argued with the voice on the other end.

The door, the intercom, the woman, they were in her way. 

“Hey, you! You want in the city right? Just play along.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So you were alive before the bombs…”

The voice trails off into silence, even the sounds of the marketplace muted. A week had passed. A week of nothing. The man she’d come to see turned up missing himself. Her one hope had been taken from her hands and crushed in her face.

She rubbed her brow, glancing down the couch at the woman, the reporter, as her words sank in. The interview wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but the reporter had insisted she at least get that out of her before she’d help try to find the investigator. 

Dual professions, but one better at finding a good story, the other better at finding, and saving, people. She needed the man. The reporter had already proven herself resourceful and useful by getting her into the city that night, but she wasn’t going to be half as much a help as an actual detective.

“Yes.”

The word stung her throat and she found she had to blink back a tear. Two weeks now, two weeks since the bombs fell and she’d… Well. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Except for following the trail that led her here.

“Yes.” She said it again, just to drive the point home to herself. To feel her own guts twist in response. To stake herself to this reality because if she couldn’t she wouldn’t stand a chance. “Last month I was hosting a dinner party, red wine and beef. My first real drink since-”

No. 

No that wasn’t going to help. A shuddering breath and it was forced back down. It didn’t matter. 

“Since…?” Soft, inquisitive. A hand moved towards her slightly in a comforting gesture without encroaching. 

“My son.”

It came out in a hoarse whisper. Barely audible above the low murmuring background noise of Diamond City. But it hung in the air like a malevolent ghost, freed now that someone had acknowledged it.

“What happened to him?”

Barely louder, but with a gentle lilt, almost a perfect counter to the strain she was feeling trying to talk about it without thinking about it. Trying to get help without ever saying why.

“Taken.”

A bitter bark of a word. Spat out almost. A snarl threatened to rise up in her and fought with the watery urge to sob until it was all she could do to breathe normally. A long, shuddering inhale. Held, until her lungs protested and the simple animal need for oxygen forced her to exhale and breathe again.

“Someone took him, while I was frozen. I saw a man. Saw someone in a hazmat suit. Saw them-” NO. 

Her mouth snapped shut. 

“It’s okay. You don’t need to say any more.” A light, almost imperceptible touch on the back of her hand, she hadn’t even seen the reporter move. “Thank you. For the interview. Now how can I help?”

“The detective. His secretary said he was missing.” Good, back to the present. There were things she could do about the present. Things that mattered. That was why she was here, in this city, on this couch, talking to this reporter.

“Wait Nick’s missing?” Her eyes flew open in surprise, “I thought he was working the Darla case.” The last almost said entirely to herself.

“Then you know more than I do. She just told me they weren’t taking any new cases while he was gone.”

The bitter tone in her voice was impossible to disguise, it lay thick on her tongue and threatened to make her retch. 

“Last I heard he was heading out to see Skinny Malone about it. I know where he holes up. Trail’s not cold yet Blue.”

Her head shot up, catching the reporter in a confused stare. 

“Blue?”

“Oh uh, y’know. The vault suit? You never gave me your name and I needed something to put in my notes.”

She nodded, once, then stood. “I need to get some things ready. How long do you need?”

“Meet me here in an hour? Should be enough time for me.”

“A plan then. One hour. Then we go find this detective.”


	3. Chapter 3

Another week, the couch again. The faded upholstery help up well to her continued presence. 

She’d found the detective, the reporter had been right on target with him being wrapped up in some family drama involving that ‘Skinny’ Malone guy. He hadn’t been as helpful as she’d hoped. That interview was much more difficult than the one with the reporter.

He needed details. She didn’t have details. She had a flash; a man and someone in a hazmat suit, a gunshot, a baby’s cry, and then cold. And then waking up again. Crawling out of the vault. A coughing gasp of radioactive air.

The best idea he could give, off the cuff, was a mercenary. Which one, well he was investigating that right now. That’s what his job was. Her’s was… to wait.

So she waited, on the couch in the reporter’s home. Here again simply because she had nowhere else to go. If she could will time to move faster. Hell she almost wished she could freeze again just so she wouldn’t have to sit here and wait.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

The words startled her out of her head and she looked up. “A walk?”

“Yeah, y’know, one foot in front of the other, takes you places?”

“I know what a-” She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked up at the reporter from under her eyebrows. “I meant why, why a walk?”

“Because you’re gonna wear a hole in the wall staring at it like that, Blue.” She responded affably, jabbing a thumb at the peeling painted sheet metal across from the couch. 

With a sigh, she stood, the relaxed set of her shoulders belying her inner tension. “Any particular direction?” She asked, holding the door open after herself.

“Nah. Just walk with me.”

They set off, skirting around the market and the noise, meandering down plywood alleys and semi-raised lanes. The sun was setting again, another day gone and yet still no closer than she had been when she first got here. 

It felt like she’d been waiting forever. In a sense she had, with no knowledge of how long she’d been under either time. Only a small, carefully husbanded flicker of hope kept her from assuming the worst, that he’d been taken days after they were sealed in. There were a lot of possibilities in those two hundred years of sleep, after all.

“Cap for your thoughts?” 

The reporter wasn’t looking at her, instead her face turned upwards as her breath fogged out in the increasing chill of the November air.

“High value you put on ‘em,” She replied, shrugging her faded denim jacket a little higher on her shoulders. 

“I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on in your head, Blue. I mean, I get that you’re driven but beyond that…” She trailed off, casting a mildly puzzled glance at the woman next to her.

“Driven. Yeah that’s what they used to say too.”

“Tell me about it.” Phrased as a command, but the gentle tone turned it into a request. One she could easily brush aside, one she had brushed aside days ago. The reporter was, as could only be expected, nosey.

“I… Was a perfectionist. Grades, competitions, all of it. Anything I did I had to be the best at, and damn if that isn’t what happened. Great fat fucking lot of good it did me.”

“Blue! Language!” The rebuke came with a laugh, not the same tone she used on her little sister, more a surprised reaction to the fact that the other woman even knew how to swear.

It did the job though, and she let out a short chuckle. “Sorry. But uhm, yeah. Perfectionist. I did dance, and sharpshooting, took martial arts, all that was just to clear my head so I could focus on my grades. I still put everything into it. I guess it’s good I did, if I just focused on law school I’d be pretty useless out here now.”

“Hm, I won’t argue with that. Be tough to have made it down here without some practical skills.”

She nodded, once, and let the silence envelope them. Her feet following the reporter’s as they meandered through the tiny city. When she looked up again it was almost dark and they were approaching the ramshackle house with the printing press.

“Thanks,” She turned to the reporter, putting a hand on her shoulder for a moment before returning it to her pocket. “For everything.”

“No problem Blue. Most folks are just looking for a hand, all we gotta do is offer,” She says, placing her own on the woman’s shoulder before opening the door to Publick Occurrences and ushering her inside. Another day done.


	4. Chapter 4

It was him. A half-remembered name, a sketch from a guard, a quick check with the Mayor’s office, and all of Nick Valentine’s digging had borne fruit. She knew who had set her on this path, now.

Kellogg.

And that was all she had. That, and a key to his now abandoned home on the edge of Diamond City. Valentine had tried to pick the lock under cover of darkness but it proved to be a bit much for his nimble fingers. She went to the Mayor, then. 

His secretary capitulated easily, the details weren’t important to her, what she said or how she said it. Hell even who she said it to. She needed in that house. Now she had the key and was rushing back to the door that matched it just as dawn peeked over the edge of the wall.

Nick was waiting nearby, affecting to watch the sunrise. Getting inside was the work of moments, the door opening with a creak. Immediately they started working the place over, searching for a single hint of where he’d go next. 

By the time the sun was greeting the wall again they had cleared the place out, even the ‘secret’ back room that looked more like a throne to merc-dom. He’d been there, and recently. The dust coating everything wasn’t thick enough for him to be months gone.

That was their entire lead. He’d been in Diamond City sometime in the last month or two. Her flurry of excitement died screaming, a snarl of rage as she threw an empty bottle at the equally empty bleachers by his house.

“Look kid, I’m gonna get in touch with some people. I might have a way to track him but I gotta get the right man for the job. This isn’t over.” Nick said, a quick pat on the shoulder and then rushing off with a whirl of his coat. “Stay in town.” He added over his shoulder as he vanished into the alleys.

She slumped against the railing. Hurry up and wait. Again, again, AGAIN she was waiting. A kick resounded against the corner of Kellogg’s house, the tinny noise echoing through the stands.

The moon slipped over the horizon, casting light down like an old friend reaching out to comfort. The darkness slid around her, holding her close in a cool embrace, the moonlight traced her cheek as though to wipe away her tears. She held herself tightly, willing herself to stop crying. It wouldn’t help.

It never helped.

“Blue?”  
The reporter. Cautiously from the shadowed steps, up into the moonlight. 

“Nick said you guys…”

She stopped a few feet away as the woman turned her back to her, quickly to hide her face and the wetness on her cheeks. Crying never helped, crying in front of other people doubly so. She ran a hand down her face, swiftly erasing all traces of her tears.

“He’s… on another lead. More waiting,” She added the last with a thick choking sound.

A hand on her shoulder, a gentle squeeze and then lightening as though to pull away. She grabbed it, holding it there as though it were a lifeline. The reporter stepped to her side, holding her hand and pulling her a little closer.

“C’mon Blue, let’s get out of the cold.”

A light tug towards the steps, away from the house. Her feet followed, even without deciding to. Back down the streets as the market closed for the night, into the little house with the well-worn couch by the door.

She sat down heavily, only now realizing she was still holding the reporter’s hand. If it bothered either of them, it didn’t show. The cushion beside her sagged as she joined her on the couch and slid her other arm around her shoulders in a sideways kind of hug.

A dam broke.

She stared straight ahead as tears poured hotly from her eyes. Silent but for her slightly ragged breathing. 

“It’s okay Blue. Nick’s the best sleuth in the Commonwealth. If anyone’s gonna find him…”

A hiccup, a quick swipe to knock the worst of the wetness from her face. A hand on her cheek turning her to face Piper, while her eyes were huge and red and her mouth hung open slightly, like she couldn’t quite catch her breath. Piper’s eyes were warm and concerned and there was a sad twist to her lips.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

That tone, those words, the simple human comfort of contact. She reeled forwards, quickly burying her face in Piper’s shoulder, clasping arms around her waist while a hand rubbed gentle circles on her back.

Her sobs shook her violently, but silently. It seemed like hours before she finally ran out of tears to cry. All the while, the same steady hands held her and let her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm delicious insomnia. For the record I'm posting these as I finish them.


	5. Chapter 5

“He’s dead.”

The words hung in the air like a gallows. Piper stepped down from her loft, her brow knit in worry. “I thought you’d sound a little happier.”

“My… son… is in the Institute.” 

The reply settled over them, a weight bearing down on their shoulders. Blue looked up at Piper, a feral anger deep in her eyes.

“The Institute? Hoo boy…” She bit her lip, taking another few steps closer to the woman who’d been sleeping on her couch for over a month. She didn’t mind the new roommate, not really. She was a little cold, being on ice for two centuries could do that to a girl. A little distant, but having everything taken from you so suddenly, it made sense. Unlike so many others who might have also benefited from her personal attention, however, she was still just as driven as the day she stepped up to the gates of Diamond City.

“I've been investigating these creeps for over a year now. The Commonwealth's boogeyman. Feared and hated by everyone. And no idea where they are.” She added the last quietly.

“Nick,” She almost spat out a laugh, “Nick’s running… another damn lead.” 

The couch protested as she sat down with all the grace of a bag of tatos. Every line of her body radiating weariness and exhaustion bordering on defeat.

Piper found herself in a familiar place, sat by her side, an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, hey come on. He got you this far. You’ve just gotta be patient.”

As soon as the words left her mouth she winced. “You haven’t been treading water here, Blue. You’ve already done more than most people, even most parents.”

“But it’s not enough. He’s not here.”

“It is enough. You came to the right place, you found the right man, you’re chasing the right leads, it just… It takes time Blue.”

“How much more time!?” 

Piper flinched back as she snapped, scooting across the cushion almost like Blue was going to bite.

Blue stood and scowled. “My son is in the hands of the most secretive organization in the Commonwealth, hell maybe the whole damn world. No one knows who they are, where they are, what they want. I don’t even know how long they’ve had him! And you’re telling me to be patient!” 

Her voice had started with a cold anger, but rose to an outraged yell. Her stance no longer showed exhaustion but a desperate rage. Her breath came in short bursts, one hand clenched tight by her side, the other wound tight in her hair. 

“I am no closer to him than I was the day I walked in here.” She said flatly, eyes unfocused but wide and wild.

“That’s not true and you know it. Just because you haven’t GONE anywhere doesn’t mean you haven’t accomplished a hell of a lot.”

Her words were quiet, coaxing.

“You’re going to find him. God help them, Blue, you are going to find your son.”

The room was silent for a long while. So long did Blue stand in that hunched, raging posture, that Piper almost jumped out of her skin when she suddenly fell to her knees, head hanging.

Piper knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin with two fingers. “You’re going to find him.” She said a final time, conviction in her voice. “I don’t think anything in the Commonwealth could stop you.”

The tension slowly drained from Blue’s shoulders, her eyes relaxing until they closed entirely. She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out. Her eyes opened, but she didn’t look up at Piper.

“I’m… sorry I snapped. You didn’t deserve that.” She said at last, her voice quiet and shaky, her hand moved to rest on Piper’s.

“Apology accepted.”

They sat there in silence for a moment before Blue finally looked up to meet her eyes. The steely resolve that had been there so long returned in full force. “If I’m going to take on the Institute, I can’t do it alone.”

Piper glanced away, chewing on her lip. Thoughts of who could help, who WOULD help, what any of them could really even DO, it all raced through her mind. She was silent so long that Blue stood, turning to leave.

“I need an army,” Blue said simply, “And I know right where to start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't quite finish this last night. Mulled it over at work. This isn't what I thought was going to happen but yanno you don't argue with the characters.


	6. Chapter 6

“Ma’am.”

His voice was low, but carried clearly across the bridge. The minuteman stood on the far side of the river, at the simple gate that separated Sanctuary from the wilderness surrounding them.

“It’s great to see you again! Have you had any luck?”

“Some.” Her voice was, not cold, but distant. “I’ve hit a snag. You said, if I needed anything, you’d help.” She stopped halfway across the river, unable to bring her feet to the threshold.

“As much as I can. You saved our lives, I at least owe you a debt.” 

“Then I’m calling it in. I need an army.” 

He whistled long and low in response, a hand reaching back to scratch his head while his eyes drifted across the landscape. “That’s a tall order ma’am. You know we don’t have the resources or the manpower to make that happen right now…”

“What do I need to do to make it happen.” 

Her journey back from Diamond City had been uneventful, indeed hardly a soul seemed alive as the road rolled out in front of her feet. This place was barren, hardened, difficult to survive on and nearly impossible to thrive on. The dangers that lurked on it made mere survival even less likely, everything was hungry.

“Well, if you can get some settlements up, show them that the Minutemen are back and ready to lend a hand when called, well then I think we could muster up the fighting power you need. It’s not gonna be easy, or quick.” He added, finally looking back at her.

“Nothing ever is. Just tell me where I need to go.”

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

“General.”

They stood at the far end of the bridge, looking back across the water at the fortified community. At least now she was doing something, accomplishing something. Even if it was only a tiny step to getting what she wanted, she was acting.

“Preston.”

Weeks again. She’d been up and down the coast, the roads, the rail lines. More miles under her feet now than ever before. Still she stood with that relaxed grace, the intensity of her gaze the only thing keeping it from being a truly easy air.

“We got word from Diamond City. There’s a detective, Nick Valentine, he wants to speak to you. Something related to your case, that’s all he would say.”

She heaved a sigh, a pressure she didn’t realize had been building was released. He hadn’t forgotten, hadn’t brushed it off as an impossible case. If he was getting in touch it must be important.

“Southwards again, then. Any settlements need help while I’m passing by?”

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

“Blue!”

Piper pulled her into a fierce hug the moment she opened the door. It startled both of them, to be honest. Well, her presence startled one of them, the hug is what did them both in. The fervor with which it was returned added another layer to the shock of the greeting.

“Where have you been? You didn’t tell me anything, I haven’t seen you in a month!” A punch to her shoulder, not particularly hard but with enough force to add to her words.

“Nick sent me a letter. Says he has a lead on the Institute.” She brushed the question aside easily, seeing Piper’s eyes narrow at the mention of Them. “But I… wanted to see you first.”

At that, her face relaxed, an easy smile settling on her lips. “Oh Blue. You didn’t have to. I know how important this is to you-”

“And I know that I left on a poor note.” She interrupted, pulling Piper in for another hug. “I... I got so busy, and nothing took me down here until today. I should’ve at least let you know I was alright.”

“Yes. Yes you should have. But you won’t have to worry about that now, I’m coming with you.”

For the second time in as many minutes both women were surprised, Blue hadn’t expected anyone to want to travel with her, as restless as her legs had been. Piper hadn’t expected to make the demand, but once said it could not be unsaid.

Once the idea properly settled into her mind, however, she ramped up into a proper argument for her presence. “You need someone to watch your back, help keep you safe. Your whole crusade won’t last long if a raider gets a lucky shot at you. And-”  
“Okay.”

Piper spluttered, the wind suddenly dropped from her sails before she really got going. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah. You’re right. And I’d… I’d love to have you.” A small, genuine smile touched her lips and the corners of her eyes. “Now that’s settled, I- We should go see what Nick needs to tell me.”


	7. Chapter 7

The pod hissed open, for a moment she swore she could see her breath, could feel the crinkle of ice in her clothes. Just long enough to shake her further, as though seeing it all again hadn’t been enough. She scrambled gracelessly out of the seat, lurching to the far wall to dry heave braced against it.

A warm hand on her back, slowly sliding up and down, chasing away the last touch of the chill. As her frayed nerves settled and her mind cleared the next step became clear. “The Glowing Sea?”

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

“I don’t have nearly enough supplies for this trek.” Everything she owned, by right of purchase, scavenging, or killing, was spread on the floor of Publick Occurrences. Rifle, ammo. Pistol, ammo. Swatter, nails included. Stimpaks, Rad-X, Radaway, pure water, bandages. A faded denim jacket, a pair of heavy black boots. A pile of bottle caps.

The meager offerings of a world turned to ash.

“What have you even been doing out there that this is all you have?” Piper asked, tilting her head at Blue and the few things she claimed as her own.

“Settlements. They needed it more. And I had to keep light. Plus I didn’t really have anywhere to stash my stuff.” She stared at the medicines, as though they would multiply if she just looked hard enough.

“Well call this your home base for the time. There’s no way you’re going to get everything you need in one trip to… wherever. I doubt this is gonna be solved by a quick trip to the local Super Duper Mart.”

Blue barked a laugh, for once not bitter. A clear goal in mind kept her emotions in check. “Yeah, well… Guess I’ll have to start checking the ‘odd jobs’ postings. Stick my nose in a few more super mutant nests. Y’know, fun stuff.” She flashed Piper a grin. She could work with this.

“Blue I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in such a good mood. Not that I’m complaining, I just, I don’t get it?”

She stood up, dusting off her legs, and started stowing her things in the little corner of the living room that had quickly become hers. “Well, I’m finally able to actually do something. I need to get into the Glowing Sea, and out again. I need to get supplies for the trip. It’s… I haven’t had anything concrete to… work towards.”

She turned to face Piper, a serious but not somber look on her face. “A real goal, y’know? Hard to have unbridled rage when I can harness it and… use it.”

“Hm that sounds healthy. Look just don’t be reckless about any of this, okay? I still haven’t forgiven you for vanishing on me.”

She winced. “Yeah. Yeah that’s fair. I just feel like I can think clearly for the first time in… since… well. Yeah.”

“Well then, don’t let me hold you up. Oh, actually, if you’re interested I did hear about an… interesting salvage opportunity. Something about a ship ON a building downtown?”

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Weeks again and again and again. Time was slipping through her fingers. She’d already missed so much of his life, all the tiny things that she’d been looking forward to cherishing as he grew. First words, first steps, hell the first fight or slammed door. 

The moon sat full, wreathed in high clouds. The branches of skeletal trees reached out to the sky, the stars hung between the fingers like jewels. Sparks drifted on a hot current from the fire in front of her. She stared, but didn’t see, as the smoke lazed upwards to join the night air.

On the other side of the fire, Piper lay in a sleeping bag. The ground was cold enough she slept fully clothed, her jacket draped over top like a blanket, hat tucked under her head. Her face was tucked down under the edge of the sleeping bag, she hadn’t started the night like that but had shifted as the evening cooled.

She was supposed to be sleeping as well, but her hands itched, her mind itched. Inaction, even necessities like food and sleep, they felt like a waste of time. Finally she shook her head, breaking herself from her reverie, and did what she always did when she was supposed to be sleeping but her hands refused to quiet.

One braid, two, three, haphazard across her head wherever the mood struck. Something simple to keep her fingers busy while she desperately tried to count sheep. Or brahmin. Or whatever someone counted in this wasteland.

Across the fire Piper stirred, rolling over to face the light and warmth. An eye opened, blinked, and focused on the woman. 

“Blue? You’re still up?” She asked, yawning heavily at the end.

“Can’t sleep. Too uh… busy.” She gestured vaguely to her temple, unsure how to describe the well worn paths her mind was running down on yet another winter night. 

Piper sat upright, pulling the sleeping bag up with her and hunching towards the fire like nothing so much as an oversized burrito. She laughed at the image, earning a confused look. 

“So Blue I’m thinking, it’s awful pretty out but it’s freaking cold. I don’t know about you but I’d rather not lose my fingers to frostbite.” She waggled her hand out from under the cover before quickly tucking it back in.

“I’ll stay out here as long as you want to be out here, but I don’t think much good is going to come from nearly freezing to death every night. We should head back to Diamond City, wait for spring…”

She knew that was a dangerous proposition, asking Blue to wait when she could be acting. It was a calculated risk, Blue might not be charging headlong into danger but this was almost as bad, a slow attrition of mental and physical resources. She’d been looking thinner the last week, more haggard. Frayed.

And it wasn’t like Blue was totally unreasonable, she was just, well, driven. 

The silence, save for the occasional snap of the fire, stretched between them. It went from a simple thoughtful pause, to an awkward break, to an uncomfortable tension. Finally, when Piper couldn’t bear the strained silence any longer, she blurted out, “Blue please just come home.”


	8. Chapter 8

She finished adding scrap wood to the little cast iron stove that had taken over the middle of the living room when they got back, closing and latching the door. While they’d been gone Natalie had stayed with friends, and so the house was stone cold. She sat next to Piper on the couch and tried to will the heat to radiate out faster.

Beside her, Piper’s teeth chattered. She was curled up almost completely with the blanket from her bed draped around her shoulders. “Why on earth did I wait so long to try and get you back here? I could’ve been warm days ago!” She muttered to herself, but loud enough to earn a dry chuckle from the woman.

“I think you think I’m more stubborn than I am.” Came the unbidden reply. “Or you didn’t think it was gonna get as cold as it did.” She added, an afterthought.

After a moment of silence, she unbuttoned her jacket and leaned against the arm of the couch, holding out her arms and gesturing for Piper to curl up against her. “C’mon you’re clearly way colder than I am.” She said encouragingly.

Piper, for her part, only held out for a second before flinging herself onto the woman, quickly snaking her arms around her sides under the jacket and burying her face in her chest. “ThankyouBlue.” She said in a rush while the woman’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her jacket around them both a bit.

The crackle of the fire sounded almost like a chuckle to her ears as Piper’s shivering slowly faded and the space between them went from freezing, to chilled, to warm, and at last settled on a comfortable not-quite-hot.

As she regained feeling in her extremities Piper took quiet note of just how tangled up she’d gotten, not that Blue seemed to mind what with her arms around her and her chin resting on her head. A moment of thought and she decided that Blue was a VERY good pillow.

“You’re a pretty good blanket, Piper.”

“Oh did… I say that out loud?”

“Just a little. It’s okay.”

The room finally started to warm, the tongues of flame chasing the ghosts of chill out into the wasteland. Piper briefly considered moving now that she wasn’t in immediate danger of finding out how cryo felt, but realized she was drifting off.

“Blue if you wanna move for the rest of the night, you better do it now.” She mumbled, snuggling just a bit deeper against the woman. The response was silent, Blue shifting against the couch to a slightly more comfortable angle. Before long the only sound besides the light crackle of the fire was the deep breathing as the two fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Piper awoke with a huge yawn, started to stretch before stopping abruptly and blinking at her surroundings. A moment later and she remembered, cold, couch, Blue offering to be her personal space heater. The woman was still asleep and Piper couldn’t recall ever seeing her so relaxed for so long.

Every time she’d crashed on the couch it had been at the end of a long day, either of worrying or running around the Commonwealth or both. The sleep she’d gotten had always been short, as though her body was unwilling to rest while it could be up and accomplishing something. The fact that she was still asleep, probably longer than she had been since she climbed out of the vault.

She took the opportunity to study her face, for once not hard with determination, or crumbling with the sheer stress of it all. Her cheekbones were high, jawline defined, chin with just a hint of a cleft. Her angular nose was ever so slightly crooked, with a small scar at the bridge, probably broken at some point. Her lips were more full than Piper had thought, apparently being pressed into a tense line her every waking moment.

All in all she was pretty cute.

“That a statement, Miss Wright?”

Blue cracked an eye at her, the edges crinkling with a light smile while she felt all the warmth from her nap rush to her face.

“I uh well I mean, objectively you’re… not that I have to be objective, not that I’m not either! Ugh.” Her head slumped into Blue’s shoulder, hiding her face from the, yes, quite cute woman.

Blue chuckled, hugging her a little tighter and nuzzling into the top of her head, which did absolutely nothing to help ease the blush. They stayed like that so long Piper was certain Blue had fallen back asleep, hopefully to forget the awkward exchange.

“I never really thanked you.”

Ah, no such luck then.

“Thanked me for what?” Her voice muffled by the woman’s shoulder.

“Keeping me from falling apart. You didn’t have to, you just… You were there and you helped keep me together these past few months. You’re the first person who reached out to help me without me having to help them first. So, yeah, thank you.”

Piper raised her head up just enough to catch a glimpse of Blue’s face and gauge how serious she was. Not that she was the kind to make light of things, but rather that she was the kind to become too somber.

“I just did what any decent person would do.” She said, brushing away the compliments.

“Think that if you want but you were the only one who actually did it. You were a real friend from the get go, I won’t ever forget that.” The arms around her tightened a bit.

“Heh, I didn’t exactly start the paper to make friends. But I guess it helped me figure out pretty fast which ones were worth keeping.”

“That mean I’m worth keeping?” Her tone was light and teasing but Piper couldn’t help but feel a weight settle in her stomach.After a moment she remembered to breathe, and propped herself up on her hands to look at the woman, Blue.

“Hmmm… I dunno, have you got fleas?” 

“Piper! I’m not a stray dog!” She said, full of mock offense but with the sting taken out by how her eyes lit up in laughter.

“Are you sure? Cuz you pretty much followed me home and haven’t left. Should I ask Nat if I can keep you? ‘Natalie look who followed me home, she doesn’t have a collar, can I have her?’” She asked the air with feigned excitement.

“You’re awful.” Blue said at last, her quiet chuckling settling after a few moments.

Piper went quiet for a bit, then looked back at her more seriously than before. “Can I keep you?” She asked so quietly, if they hadn’t been almost nose to nose Blue probably would’ve missed the question entirely.

Blue was silent, staring up at her with the same intensity she usually reserved for the wasteland, eyes scanning for any sign of danger, assessing the situation almost faster than she could take the information in. It went on so long that Piper looked away, her blush returning. “Uh, forget I said anything, that was stu-”

A hand moved to the back of her head, gently pulling her closer, Blue’s eyes now a question, one Piper knew the answer to.  
She let herself be pulled in and felt the tension that she hadn’t realized had built up in the last few minutes drain from her arms as they kissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Figures this is the longest chapter lol


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next were gonna be one chapter but it got away from me and damn if I won't keep that chapter/word ratio at less than 1k!

The cold from that first night back seemed to decide her course for the rest of the winter. Never able to leave her hands idle, or her brain for that matter, Blue had set to work patching holes and adding layers to the really not up to code building that was Publick Occurrences.

The first task was really simple, getting some scrap metal riveted to the walls to cover the worst holes. It only took a few days and the breeze blowing papers off of Piper’s desk had been cut down almost completely. It was noisy, and she couldn’t focus half as well while it was going on, but the improvements were inarguable.

Without the constant wind sucking the heat from the place, the shack warmed up considerably and the wood pile diminished much more slowly. That was only step one, the next one saw Blue roaming the areas around Diamond City, finding every blanket and rug, curtain and sheet that she could and hauling them all back.

Up they went, much more quietly than the patch jobs had, covering every wall and floor in layers until the inside resembled nothing so much as a very large tent. This was the real accomplishment, as each layer went up the warmth was retained just a bit easier. Eventually it got to the point where they could even sit around the house without a coat or sweater. 

Nat’s little corner had been granted infinitely more privacy with the addition of heavy drapes to really partition it off from the rest of the room. Even Piper’s room felt more snug and private with a ‘door’ made up of a thick quilt she could easily, and did most days, tie aside.

All in all the extra insulation changed little in the broad strokes of their lives, but it did make things more comfortable and even a bit more home-like. It had the added benefit, by the end, of quieting the noises from outside, turning the place into an oasis of warmth and peace in the middle of the cold Diamond City.

Blue finished out the week by digging out a few household repair and home electrical manuals, turning her attention to the appliances and wiring. By the end of January, with the efforts of one dedicated over-achiever, it had become one of the best kept places in the city.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

“You really don’t slow down, do ya?” Piper asked one evening while Blue tinkered with the stove, unlit for the moment, as she fitted a chimney to the roof.

“No reason to, I suppose. I’d be going stir-crazy if I wasn’t doing something. Might as well pay you back for all those nights I crashed on your couch.” She added, grinning down from the ladder she’d borrowed from Abbot while slotting the last piece of metal tubing into the ceiling.

“I appreciate it, I really do,” She said warmly, “But you don’t owe me anything for that. I wanted to help.”

“And you did. I’m returning the favor then if that suits your sensibilities better. Tit for tat and all.” Blue dusted her hands off as she stepped off the ladder, eyeing the chimney and deciding it was true enough for the simple job of not smoking them out now that the ‘natural’ chimney had been well and truly sealed up.

“Fine, fine,” She raised her hands in mock defeat, “If you keep this up, though, I’m going to owe you!”

At that, Blue laughed. Not a long or hard laugh, but an unburdened one, as though her problems were not merely waiting for a turn of the seasons to be picked up again.

“Oh c’mon Piper. Just think of me like your personal Ms Handy. Except without the accent. Or the shiny chrome body. Or the three eyes. Or the buzzsaw…” She trailed off into a contemplative look, one hand resting on her chin.

“No buzzsaw arms!” Piper slapped her shoulder, earning herself a chuckle.

“So, what’s next on the agenda Ms Handy?” She continued after they stopped grinning like idiots.

“I was thinking of fixing up the kitchen. I know you don’t cook a lot but I used to really enjoy it…” 

“Well, don’t let me stop you. Goodness knows noodles get old after the fifth week straight.” Piper put a hand on her shoulder, steering her back from reminiscing. It was something she’d found seemed to help. Maybe not the best way for Blue to cope, but it was keeping her friend together while she was left unable to follow through her grander plan.


	10. Chapter 10

Piper sat up in her room that night, comfortable and warm and surprisingly tired given she wasn’t the one working herself to exhaustion every day trying to fix the place up. Still, though, she was unable to sleep. Her nights had been much like this since that first very very cold day they’d gotten back to Diamond City. It seemed no matter how much she tried to wear herself out during the day, once she settled into bed her mind inexorably drifted back to how incredibly comfortable she’d been with her Blue-pillow, and how simply nice it had been to share that moment with her when they woke.

Blue had kept herself far far too busy during the days for her to really follow up on it, and at night she practically fell asleep in her dinner. She seemed happier, more able to live ‘in the moment’, and that certainly warmed Piper’s heart to see, but it cast some doubt over the whole interaction.

The longer she brooded over it, the less certain she was that it was anything at all, the more she came up with excuses for it being a fluke.

Unable to stall her brain long enough for sleep to ambush her, she sighed and got up. It wasn’t the first time she’d given up and gotten out of bed, but instead of her usual cigarette on the terrace she headed downstairs to find some Sugar Bombs.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw Blue, awake, sitting with a pad of paper and sketching. She paused for a moment, since Blue had been fixing up everything not even the stairs creaked anymore, and so was given a chance to watch her unsuspecting target of fixation.

After a few breaths, Blue stretched, popping her neck and shoulder and shaking a cramp from her writing hand. She caught sight of Piper from the corner of her eye and turned to look at her in mild surprise. “Couldn’t sleep?” She asked softly.

“Hm, midnight snack,” She replied, heading to the nook she stashed the insanely sweet cereal in and pulling a box out. “Want some?”

A nod, and she joined her on the couch, reaching in and grabbing a fistful of cereal before offering it to Blue. “What’re you up doing? I thought you’d be completely out by now.”

She shook out a pile into her palm, tossing the pieces into the air and catching them with her mouth. “Got started thinking about the kitchen idea, had to start making plans. No way I can sleep when it’s just the idea sitting there.” She tilted the paper to Piper, showing the rough outline of a kitchen counter next to a fridge, a basic bucket-operated sink and a few drawers and cupboards shown from a few angles.

“Wow Blue you really never slow down.” She said after studying the plans for a minute, a touch of concern knitting her brow.

“Nope, no brakes on this train. What about you? What’s got you up?” Another handful of cereal and the toss-and-catch resumed, the snack more a toy at the moment.

“Nothing really, I haven’t had such a good time sleeping since we got back. Can’t seem to settle down.” She said with an artificial lightness.

“Oh? Somethin’ wrong? Anything I can do to help?” 

“Yeah, but it’s nothing like a leaky roof.” She swallowed, brushing the crumbs and bits of sugar off on her thigh.

Blue quickly jotted down a note on her plans to check the roof before throwing another Sugar Bomb in the air. “What is it then? You know I’ll do what I can to fix it.”

Piper laughed at that, ignoring the confused look it earned her. 

“It’s just… After we woke up that night, uhm, on the couch. You kissed me,” She felt her face grow warm at acknowledging it aloud for the first time, “But you haven’t done anything since and I’ve been trying to figure out… why?” A quick sidelong glance at Blue, just in time to see her get hit in the face with her latest cereal projectile.

“Oh uh I mean that was-” She coughed, looking down at the last pieces in her palm, at the plans on her thigh, at the unicorn-patterned blanket hanging on the opposite wall, anywhere but beside her. “That is, uhm… I… at the time, I didn’t really… ask you?” She bit her lip, finally chancing a quick peek at Piper.

Piper, for her part, turned to face Blue completely, incredulity writ large on her face. “Blue are you kidding me?”

“N...o?”

A loud smack as Piper’s head fell into her hands, a long groan as she wiped them down her face, before turning back to Blue with a certain ferocity in her eyes. “Did I seem upset by it?” She finally asked, bordering on demanded.

“Nnnno…”

“Then what… wh… Aguh!” She threw her hands in the air and stood, pacing away, trying to figure out Blue’s apparent hangup about the whole thing. “How much have you ACTUALLY thought about it?” She finally managed to get out, amid various mutterings about the ordeal.

“Nnnot much… I’ve been… busy?” Blue offered lamely, fiddling with the cereal still in her hand.

Piper spluttered incredulously, then her head fell into her hands again. After a long pause to compose herself she gave Blue a sharp look. “Alright. Well then, I’M not asking. I want the best pillow in the Commonwealth back.” She said at last, grabbing Blue’s free hand and tugging her to her feet. She took a few steps towards the stairs, her grip loose and more of an invitation than a demand despite her words.

Blue followed. “It would be nice to have the best blanket in the Commonwealth back.” She said agreeably as they walked up the stairs.

Both fell asleep quite quickly after that.


	11. Chapter 11

It was late into February when she finally snapped. 

“Piper I can’t just hang around Diamond City any more, I’m going crazy. I already fixed everything I could think of, the roof’s never been in this good of shape, nothing’s leaking, nothing’s sparking, I even patched that tear in your hat. My guns are as good as they’ve ever been, all my clothes are reinforced in every way I can think of. I built a kitchen and got the fridge running better than ever and I’ve planned out like five weeks worth of dinners. I am going to lose my mind.”

Piper froze, her hand that had been idly twining in Blue’s thick brown hair as they lay together. They had been dozing lightly, at least she had been. In retrospect Blue had probably not been relaxing as much as she appeared. She had been having a harder time falling asleep the last few days, though Piper had secretly hoped that was a bit due to how closely they slept, regularly waking in an utter tangle of limbs.

“Well… What were you thinking of doing away from the city, then?” She asked finally, after the silence had gone on long enough to be uncomfortable but not so long it was stifling.

“I’m not sure. Heard some rumors about some kind of raider bar? I don’t know, it sounded at the very least like it would be good for looting.” Her tone argued with her stated indecision, instead relaying that it was a foregone conclusion that she would be going and that Piper could either acquiesce now and get it over with, or drag it out for a few more days.

She pondered doing just that, it had only just started to get warmer during the day and she really did not want to risk an over-night excursion away from her very nice bed.

At long last she sighed. “Day after tomorrow, give yourself a little time to prep and get all excited about it, okay?”

The only response she got was a tight hug, and a kiss that lingered perhaps a little longer than the ones previous.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Blue stumbled in the front door late into the evening following the day of her exploration of the Combat Zone. She was favoring a leg and absolutely filthy. She headed immediately for her ‘work’ corner with all her tools, doffed her armor and dropped her weapons. Her backpack, heavy with loot, was placed with barely more care for the breakables within. That would take a few days to carry around to the various vendors and caravans to sell off, at least.

Piper trotted down the stairs and caught sight of her, covered in dirt and blood, with several fresh tears in her vault suit and a new bruise forming on her cheek. “Oh you are not coming anywhere near bed looking like that.” She said by way of greeting.

“‘Oh hey Blue! How was the Combat Zone? Kill any fun raiders?’ Why yes Piper, lots of them in fact. Got lots of goodies too! ‘Really? Bring me anything nice?’ Well as a matter of fact yeah, but since you’re being a jerk about it…” She trailed off her mocking conversation with herself and gave Piper a pointed look.

She raised her hands in an ‘ease off’ gesture. “Okay okay. How bad did you get beat up?”

The withering look cast her way should’ve turned her to dust on the spot. Blue turned silently and started peeling off her vault suit, noting where she needed to repair it, before tossing it into the dirty rag pile. She grabbed the med kit and sat on the couch in her underwear, the light down here was better to see her injuries with. Nothing too major, the worst offender being a fairly deep slash on her thigh. 

She sighed and, after checking to make sure she wasn’t going to bleed all over everything, washed her hands in the sink. Caught up a bit in the idea of getting clean, she wound up washing everything that hadn’t been covered by clothing, including her hair. Finally satisfied that she wasn’t going to give herself an infection, she sat back on the couch.

To her surprise, Piper appeared beside her. She’d thought the other woman had gone back to her room, given the lack of commentary about her present state. 

“Here let me take care of that.” She said, taking the clean rag Blue had started using to wipe the clotted blood from her leg. She settled down on the floor beside her to better reach it and began dabbing at the mess. “So, gimmie the action replay.”

Blue chuckled, shaking her head slightly. “It actually went way better than it had any right to. There were about three times as many raiders as I expected, apparently they’d been drawn in for a real prize fight.” A pause as she winced while Piper started really getting the dirt out of the cut.

“So y’know. Me, solo, way too many raiders and no way I could take them on all at once. So I grab my bat and start sneaking around the edges. One here, one there. I’m letting the ones too drugged to move be, and trying to get the ones with nerves of noodles to leave quietly. Worked too, for about five minutes. Then one of the punks, he has the gall to yell at me to fuck off!” She snorted, Piper laughed.

“Well that gets the attention of a few others and they get the attention of some more and before you know it half the bar is running at me. I start jumping over seats and bars and just trying to string them out so I can take them on one or two at a time. It’s working pretty well for a while, too. Then someone has the bright idea to throw a molotov into the melee.”

At that Piper’s head shot up, concern plain on her face.

“They missed me completely.” Her tone was reassuring. “But now, of course, there’s a huge fire. We’d been brawling around the main bar and there was booze on everything and it just went up.” She paused, glancing down to check Piper’s progress on her cut only to find it wrapped in a clean bandage and Piper looking up at her from a lounging position on the floor.

“Hm, yeah so bar’s on fire, raiders are on fire, I’m not on fire thankfully but I’m dancing around it. Goes on for a bit more and the flames start spreading. I don’t know what pile of filth it hits but nasty thick smoke starts pouring out of it. It’s not even a minute later and I can’t see my own hand in front of my face. I figure now’s as good a time as any and start shoving every goodie I can find into my bag.”

A quirked eyebrow in response, clearly asking if ‘while the place is going up in flames’ was really the best time to start looting.

“Yeah, not my brightest idea, but it worked out. The smoke cleared out the rest of the raiders and I slipped out in the thick of it. S’why I was just… so gross. I’m going to need a real shower tomorrow.”

“You are a bit… pungent.” Came the mild reply.

“I CAN sleep on the couch tonight if it’s too much.” She offered, patting the familiar cushions.

“Hmmm,” Piper tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Smelly excellent pillow or unsmelly kinda crappy pillow…”

Blue waited patiently for her answer, a bemused look on her face.

Piper finally stopped pretending her decision would be revealed by the ceiling and stood up. “Alright Stinky, c’mon. Even if I’m not wiped out you clearly are.” She headed for the stairs, not looking back to make sure Blue was following.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got away from me too but I made a break happen cuz I'm gonna have to reconsidering the rating on this fic!


	12. Chapter 12

_The dust in the air was suffocating. The air was too thick, too hot, too close. It was smothering. The sky was too bright, the sun a nova beaming down on her alone. The ground cracked under her fingers, canyons opening beneath her and she fell._

_Into darkness. Still suffocating but now cold. So cold. Cold and close and unable to move or scream no matter how loud she yelled it was silent._

_A gunshot cracked like thunder in the darkness. A pain spread through her chest like it was her who had a bullet in their heart. It quickly became agony and she heard the echoing sounds of an infant crying distantly._

_Her fists ached, how long had she been beating on the wall in front of her. Frostbite nipped her fingertips and her eyes froze shut with tears until finally everything was just… cold._

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Her eyes darted around wildly, confused and panicking. She was on the floor, that much was clear, the floor in Piper’s room she realized belatedly. She was breathing hard, like she couldn’t possibly get enough air, gripping the rugs on the floor hard just to feel something other than the frosty echoes still tingling through her body.

Piper was staring down at her, concern writ large across her features. “Blue? Are you okay?” She asked softly, reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder.

She flinched from the contact, it felt like a brand against her skin. She was freezing, why was she so cold?

“Blue, you had a nightmare.” Came the voice again, gently like she was afraid she’d spook like a radstag fawn. She slid down from the bed to kneel at her side, careful not to touch her again.

“I… It was… A nightmare?” Her breathing had slowed enough she could speak, but she felt like she’d sprinted a marathon. Her throat was dry and sore and she was covered in a layer of clammy sweat. “That was… That was a nightmare.” She said again with a little more certainty.

She ran a hand through her hair, her scalp was soaked with sweat. She licked her lips, they felt like they would crack. 

Piper reached out to her again, just lightly brushing her fingers on the back of her hand. It didn’t burn this time, and she turned her hand to hold Piper’s. “I… I woke you up huh.” She said lamely.

“Kinda hard to stay asleep when your pillow suddenly starts screaming and then falls out of bed.” Her tone was teasing, but the worry still ran through it. “Are you gonna be okay? D’you want anything?”

“Water. Water would be fantastic.”

Piper stood and went downstairs. Blue could hear her shuffling around in the kitchen while she was busy regaining her bearings and grounding herself. After a minute she stood, shakily, and sat on the edge of the bed, elbows braced on her knees.

A can of room-temperature water was nudged into her hand and she smiled up at Piper gratefully before taking a long drink, a single huge breath, and then draining the remainder of the can. “Thank you.” Her voice was less hoarse and her heart was finally starting to realize she was, in fact, not currently in mortal danger.

Piper sat down next to her and pulled her sideways for a hug. “You’ve been tossing a lot the last couple of nights… Are you gonna be okay?”

Blue leaned into the hug, resting her head on Piper’s shoulder and sighing. “I… I don’t know. I haven’t had a nightmare like that in…” Nope. Thinking about it would only make things worse. It didn’t matter. This mattered, this here with Piper and the house and the city and the Plan. That’s what mattered.

“Blue, what was it about?”

“The vault.” And that was all she would say on the subject, desperately hoping that Piper wouldn’t pry further. Not tonight. Not here in their safe place so far from where it happened both in space and in time.

“You need to talk to someone.” Her tone was firm, the decision made. “I don’t care who, I wish you would talk to me, but as long as you can talk about it with someone I think it’ll help. Please.”

Blue nodded, once. “Okay Piper. I’ll… I’ll try and think of someone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They wanted this to become E rated so I gave Blue a nightmare.


	13. Chapter 13

The sky was slate, threatening rain but never following through. It had been like that since dawn, the sun peeking for just a moment below the clouds but quickly swallowed by them. The air was damp and chilly, the kind of cold that wriggled through every little tear and seam to hit you right in the bones.

Blue wiped at her nose, it always ran when it was cold like this, before settling her rifle into her shoulder. From her perch on a semi-trailer she had a clear view, and thus a clear shot, at the swarm of ghouls rushing hell-bent towards the man in power armor. They swarmed at him like ravenous rats, unable to actually do anything but slow him down as he fired laser rounds into the mob.

He was clearly getting overwhelmed, ghouls starting to try and duck past him towards the woman with the injured man. 

PFAH

PFAH

PFAH

The front steps were briefly cleared of stragglers, giving the woman some breathing room to tend to the man. She studied them briefly, they were clearly wearing some kind of uniform but she didn’t recognize it. The man in power armor looked competent enough, just unsupported. The woman was deftly addressing the other man’s wounds, a medic perhaps.

PFAH

PFAH

A couple more corpses, these had been clinging to the armored man’s back, out of his range of motion to deal with effectively.

“Sniper!” The woman shouted, eyes wide at the sudden realization.

PFAH

PFAH

PFAH

PFAH

Since she’d been outed, Blue decided to go whole hog and join the battle proper. She kept her perch but fired more readily, not trying to pick off targets that were unlikely to be noticed immediately. The effect was rapidly felt, the ghouls falling faster and faster to her bullets and his lasers.

When the last one lay, twitching, on the ground she stood. Holding her rifle in as non-threatening a manner as she could muster, she waved at the trio. The man in armor swept the barricaded courtyard for any more hostiles before declaring “Clear!” and turning to her.

“Thanks for the assistance, civilian, but what are you doing here?” His voice was firm, tone both commanding and demanding in equal measures.

“Just passing through, thought you could use a hand.” She said, loud enough to carry into the courtyard without moving from the trailer. 

“I find that hard to believe.” He said flatly.

“Good thing that doesn’t really matter then, huh?” Deciding it was better to err on the side of ‘leave’, she slung her rifle over her shoulder and slid down the side of the trailer to the ground. “I’ll be on my way.” She added, returning his stare.

He was silent for a moment, the gears in his head almost visibly turning. “Wait. You seem capable for a civilian, perhaps you would be willing to continue your support. The Brotherhood of Steel would be grateful.” He added the last, like it was supposed to mean something to her.

“Yyyyyeah I’m not really for hire, or signing up for your mailing list or whatever. Like I said, I was passing through.” His soldier’s demeanour was too familiar, too easy to fall into thinking about…

So she didn’t, turning with hardly a glance and walking on.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Piper mimed cleaning out her ear with her finger. “I’m sorry, you rescued WHO from a horde of ferals on your way to College Square?”

Blue quirked a brow at her, settling yet another pack of loot on the floor. Her plan for the day had been straightforward, sneak around the square, grab everything of any value, hit as few ghouls in the face as possible. And to be honest, it had gone almost to the letter, except that on the way she passed the police station and got involved in that whole mess.

“Uh, some Brotherhood of Steel guy in power armor? Why, should that mean anything to me?”

“Did… Did you miss the giant blimp over the airport? All the guys in power armor running around shooting up raiders and super mutants?” Piper looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

“...didn’t actually realize those things were related.” She replied bashfully.

“Blue you are a mess.” She sighed, rubbing her face. “At least tell me you didn’t burn any bridges there, I don’t think we want to be on their bad side.”

“No I just kinda walked away.” She shrugged. “He was trying to get me to help them out more, though.”

After a few minutes of silence a thought occurred. She turned to Piper. “Hey d’ya think if I helped them again I could get one of those suits of power armor?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do literally post these the minute I'm done writing them. Also, [I drew Piper and Blue last night](https://imgur.com/PK8yQPZ).


	14. Chapter 14

The glow of the city in the distance called to her, the harsh white light reminiscent of the proverbial ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. It cast long shadows from the buildings around it, ones that she could only see now that she was up so high. The wind whipped at her hair and she gave half a thought to having it cut.

Just a few more hours and the longest day in months would be over. 

She’d left Piper the morning before, she didn’t know how long she’d be away but did know that it was too important to put off. A full suit of working power armor, plus whatever armaments the Brotherhood was willing to offer, it was too great a prize. Too much temptation, too much to turn away when she’d been scrabbling and scavving and saving for months to get provisions together for the Glowing Sea.

Piper was, not upset, but displeased. The Brotherhood rubbed her the wrong way, especially their McDonough-esque hardline stance on ghouls. She wasn’t going to try and stop her, however. It would’ve been futile and left them both feeling worse for the effort. 

So she’d gone, taking her new combat armor for a trial run. She and the paladin had gone to some pre-war R&D place, they’d shot and been shot at by a truly tremendous number of synths, she’d set off the burner of a test rocket (somehow not frying the paladin in the process), and gotten whatever it was that was so important to him.

The details escaped her now, they didn’t matter. She’d gotten into his good graces and he, in turn, had taken her to the airship moored at the airport. Then he’d done one better and, based on her capabilities, immediately recommended her to ‘Knight’ status. The only thing she’d gleaned from that, at least that she could recall, was that it meant her own suit of pristine power armor.

That had been the goal, and it had been so quickly and almost disappointingly easily achieved. They must be desperate for manpower, since she’d made her own stance on ghouls and non-hostiles very clear. But they took her anyways because she knew which end of the gun went BANG.

Their elder, younger than Piper even, seemed full of bluster and bravado. He gave off the idea of competency, of being a hardass, but there was something lacking in his speeches. Some feeling of authenticity, less like he had made up his own mind about these things and more that he was doing what he was supposed to. She could work with that, and clearly he could work with her as well.

Her suit of armor was still aboard the airship, the Prydwen, wouldn’t do to forget the name of the ship in front of her new ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’. Some adjustments were being made, at her request, to help her in the journey that was now looming on the horizon like a deathclaw.

The glow much farther south caught her eye, the constant rad-storm over the Glowing Sea. Soon she would see it first-hand, it and all the dangers within, and eventually the man she needed to somehow find in that even still more desolate wasteland. How long would that even take. How long would she be away from home in a land where it wasn’t even safe to breathe?

Soon she would know. It was still too cold for her to continue her work as the General, single-handedly raising settlements like a necromancer restoring a facsimile of life to the Commonwealth. All that was for a later stage of the plan anyways, this she could move on as soon as she had her supplies.

With what was effectively Brotherhood sponsorship, that wasn’t far off. She wondered idly if she could comandeer another knight or whatever the rank was to accompany her. She’d have to speak to the paladin about that. 

He’d been pleasantly surprised when, upon their arrival, she was immediately sent out to take on a super mutant stronghold all but single-handedly. She agreed it was both a good trial for her and a show of respect by the elder. It had been grueling, and she’d needed both a rad-scrub and a soap-scrub when it was all over with. 

She’d done it, though. The fort was secured, whatever the mutants had wanted there was out of their oversized hands, and several dozen of the brutes were dead. The elder had been pleased, his statement as such had the air of sincerity, and had agreed to allow her to continue her life outside the confines of the Brotherhood. Another mark for desperation on their part.

The lights of Diamond City passed under them as the vertibird aimed for the police station. She’d double back on foot and be home before dawn. The longest day, for now, nearly over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh I played thru this part of the game enough that I really did not want to relive it via writing, so here's the after-action report


	15. Chapter 15

The first rays of dawn broke over the horizon line, stretching out long fingers of light across the city. She walked through the gate, almost asleep on her feet. Thankfully this was a path she’d followed often, and her steps carried her without a thought to Publick Occurrences. She slumped against the doorframe, trying to get the energy to lift her arm and open the door.

A huge yawn threatened to split her head and she almost fell over trying to stifle it. It was an almost embarrassing amount of time later that she managed to wrangle her limbs and actually get inside. She made it precisely as far as the couch before falling into it face-first, asleep almost before she hit the cushions.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Her nose twitched. 

What was that smell? Eggs?

Her hand reached up to rub the crust from her eyes and wipe the drool from her cheek. She hadn’t moved an inch since finally making it to something resembling a bed. At least the couch was familiar. 

She propped herself up on an elbow, her head still felt heavy, but she was definitely awake now. At least awake enough to blink blearily at the kitchen where Piper stood scrambling up what was definitely eggs. “G’morn.” She croaked.

Piper turned and gave her an appraising look. “Morning. When did you get in? I didn’t hear you.”

Blue grumbled, scratching her head. Damn she was itchy, she needed a shower. Power armor, it turns out, does not breathe. “Uhm… sun w’sup…” 

“Didn’t sleep at all while you were with the Brotherhood, then?” Astute as always.

A slow shake of the head, once. “Too-”

“-Busy, I know.” Piper smiled and shook her head. “Well at least you’re not bleeding. You’re… not bleeding right?” 

Another shake, another head-splitting yawn. “Nope. Jus’ tired.”

“I’m surprised you woke up at all, especially since I wasn’t burning it or anything.” She moved over to the couch with a huge plate of scrambled eggs and a couple forks. “Make room.”

Blue shifted, agonizingly slowly, until she was more or less upright and there was just enough room for Piper to fit on the couch. “Eggs?” She finally asked. Eloquent.

“If you didn’t sleep, you probably didn’t eat either. Plus your nose was twitching the second I started cooking. Here.” She held out the plate and let Blue clumsily grab a fork and start scooping the food into her mouth. 

“You know how bad I want to grill you right now?”

“Shuper bad.” Her mouth was full. Manners were apparently something tired-Blue didn’t posses.

Piper chuckled and let Blue focus on the food, stealing bits and pieces with her own fork but leaving the lion’s share for the drained woman. She set the dishes aside and helped Blue to her feet. “C’mon, you’re gonna be useless this tired, let’s get you into bed.” Blue chuckled and Piper’s ears went red. “You know what I mean!”

“Mhm. Still funny.” The stairs took a fair bit longer than normal, but she eventually scaled them and tottered over to the bed. 

“Ay, ay no combat gear in bed!” Piper stopped her from trying to face-plant for the second time today before she set to work undoing the buckles and straps holding everything on. “Strip, woman.” She said, gesturing to the vault suit.

It took her a moment to get her fingers to cooperate enough to pull the zipper but eventually she escaped and stood in her underclothes. She was wobbly, even standing still, and her eyes were threatening to never open again. “Bed?” She asked plaintively.

Piper gave her a gentle nudge that set her just off-balance enough to fall backwards into the bed. Blue’s only response was a quiet, but victorious “Yesssss.”

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

She awoke for the second time significantly later. Far far less groggy, she quickly realized that Piper was asleep on top of her. She quirked an eyebrow and murmured “When did you get here?”

Piper’s response was to snuggle closer, then after a moment, “You looked really comfy. Like, to lay on. I mean I KNOW you are, but it was sooooo tempting… I’m weak.” She tilted her head back just enough to flash a smile.

Blue chuckled, wrapping her arms around Piper and giving her a tight hug. “Still wanna grill me?” She already knew the answer.

“You already know the answer to that. I can wait until you’re feeling human again, though. This is nice.”

She sighed. “Yeah, yeah it really is. I kinda don’t even want to get up.”

“What’re you gonna just spend all day in bed?” Piper teased.

“With you? Hell yes.” She smirked, pleased to see Piper blush at the weak innuendo.

Hell, if it got her to slow down and take a day off, Piper was game. She could write almost as well in her head as on paper after all. “Alright then smooth-talker, you’ve got me.”

Blue blinked in surprise, she’d had no follow-up for that one, counting on Piper’s work ethic to take that off the table. “Oh. Huh. Hmm… okay.” A lazy smile crept across her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue wanted some down-time, who'm I to argue?


	16. JUST AN ANNOUNCEMENT

Weak of me to do to y'all I know I just wanted to be sure y'all got the message that I literally write a chapter and then the second it's done it's posted, so there's no like back-log for me post while I gnaw on how to get these two to move along the path I've got planned out. I can see the next step, but not how they _get_ there yanno? Anyways comments are beloved and thanks to everyone that's read any of this, it's been great fun to write again after a decade out of the fanfic scene <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The glowing sea.

“I’ll be here when you get back.”

That was it, no demands or promises, just as statement as simple and true as ‘water is wet.’

“I’ll be here when you get back.”

It echoed in her head every day for weeks. Every step taken and night passed, it echoed and held her like a warm embrace. Even as the skies turned green and the ground sickly and the monsters in the dust even more fearsome. She would get back, and she would be there, as certainly as the sun rises.

Thunderstorms sparking with radiation became the background noise to her life, a quiet percussion to accompany her mantra.

“She’ll be there when I get back.”

If the paladin ever wondered why she said it so constantly and quietly, he never indicated. Perhaps he already knew, the tether of hope and how slim it could be. How strong it could be.

Day and night seemed almost interchangeable, the clouds overhead and the glow from the earth kept them in a perpetual twilight. A waking nightmare of horrors crawling out of the radiation mist and dust, backlit by crashes of lightning accompanied by a tictictic. Time lost meaning very quickly.

At the center of the maelstrom of death incarnate the earth was torn, blasted, scabbed over like an infected wound. The first time she saw it she fell to her knees and wept. This is where everything had ended. This was where everything had begun.

The paladin stood, stoic and watchful, while she came to terms with reality. 

“She’ll be there when you get back.”

His voice was steady, and certain. If he did not know the medicine of those words he surely intuited their significance.

A moment, she stood, and they continued. Through the gaping wound where everything came undone, and at long, long last… a cave. In the cave, a man. The man, his information. Given with only the word of a stranger, promising a favor in kind. 

She left.

Day and night continued their cycle, unseen by the pair pounding heavily across the crumbling ruins of what was. 

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

For the first time, the light caged by jagged buildings was to the north. It was a bare glimmer where they stood, but it was there. The air was clearer already, for them to be able to see it. They had returned from the underworld with deep knowledge.

Night was heavy around them, but their march was not over. She would not stop until those words were made real, he would not stop until she did. His loyalty to the mission was unwavering, his loyalty to her as steady as the tides.

It was bright again when, finally, she stood outside the gate. A step, another, almost stumbling, she ran inside. Past the guards, down the steps, almost sliding to a stop at a familiar faded door. 

Her power armor creaked, dust in every crevice, scratched, broken, but whole. She freed herself from it, truly, for the first time in… a month? Two? How long had she been in purgatory?

Her hand rested on the doorknob, her fatigue left somewhere around the ticket booth. She realized, belatedly, that the itching she felt was just as much from sweat and dust and blood as it was from the desire to fling the door open. But she didn’t.

She opened it carefully, stepping into the warm comfort of Publick Occurrences. 

“Piper?”

Her voice was soft, raspy. She’d hardly spoken, hardly needed to.

A flurry of movement at the top of the stairs, Piper leaping down them three at a time and almost falling on her face as she turned right to charge into her.

“Blue!”

Arms wrapped her tight, completely disregarding the layers of filth. 

“I came back.”

“And I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there are some things that I've been doing with how I write this that I'm wondering if any of you've picked up on. Intentional stylistic stuff. 
> 
> Also, this is pretty dang close to how I remember my first trip to the Glowing Sea, it was just... surreal. Terrifying. And LONG.


End file.
